Vietnam, Mozambique strengthen relations

The agreement was reached at talks on August 1 in Hanoi between Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Mozambican counterpart Carlos Agostinho do Rosario.

PM Phuc highlighted the visit as an important milestone in the bilateral relations after the visit to Mozambique by former President Truong Tan Sang in March 2016.

He asked Mozambique to support Vietnam’s bid to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure and Vietnam’s candidate for the post of UNESCO Director-General for the 2017-2021 tenure.

Prime Minister Rosario said his nation wants Viettel Corporation to expand its services to the southeastern African country and urged Vietnam’s businesses to cover trade, oil and gas, marine transportation, agricultural and sea food processing.

Mozambique is expected to become a leading partner of Vietnam in southern Sahara, Africa, while Vietnam will act as a bridge to connect Mozambique with the Southeast Asian region.

Vietnam is willing to share experiences in natural disaster prevention, weather forecasting, climate change response, education and training, and security and defense, and wants Mozambique to facilitate Vietnamese businesses to open bonded warehouses, develop distribution channels, and complete a regulatory framework for foreign investors.

The two leaders said they hope Mozambique will become Vietnam’s top partner in Sub-Saharan Africa and Vietnam will help connect Mozambique with Southeast Asia.

They also discussed challenges in security, politics and economics along with regional and global issues of shared concern.

After the talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on wildlife protection and an agreement on aviation transportation.